Views While Nursing – Sacagawea-ing It

Sacagawea (Photo by MudflapDC)

I’ve been continuing to take an ongoing collection of views while nursing my second son. One of my favorite subset of photos are what I refer to “Sacagawea-ing It”. Sacagawea was an interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. She gave birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, and continued her travels with her infant son. Whenever we are out on the trails with infant Dyson, I think of Sacagawea hiking with her son.

We hiked with my older son as well, but we’ve been getting significantly more mileage in with our second. I think part of this is we know we aren’t going to break him. But another factor is the breastfeeding. You don’t have to bring along a cooler and bottles and you don’t have to time your hike between visits to the breast pump. I’ve been really enjoying how easy family hikes are and I certainly don’t mind feeding the youngest… particularly when he decide he’s hungry at a glorious overlook. 🙂

We’re still only 4.5 months into our breastfeeding journey, but here are some new “Views While Nursing…While Hiking.”

Appalachian Trails’ Angel’s Rest, Pearisburg, Virginia

Fishing Pier, Leesylvania State Park, Virginia

Wetlands, Veterans Park, Woodbridge, Virginia

High Point Overlook, Bull Run Mountain, Virginia

Bald Eagle Nest, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge, Virginia

P.S. Instagram allows me to upload photos directly to Tumblr, so more Views While Nursing can be found at http://viewswhilenursing.tumblr.com.

My Favorite Co-Sleeping Moment

It may be somewhat controversial for me to document that my husband and I co-sleep. It’s a practice that is definitely not for every family, but it works very well for us. We aren’t drinkers or recreational drug users and we already had a very Spartan sleeping arrangement before we had children (e.g. we slept on the floor), so we didn’t have the scary, fluffy adult bed to contend with.

An Anti-Co-Sleeping Ad by Milwaukee, WI
(Reference: A Response from a Co-Sleeping Parent)
P.S. Our “Bed” Looks *Nothing* Like This

Our experience has been extremely positive, but I would say it hasn’t been as ideal as described in the Good Nights: The Happy Parents’ Guide to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night’s Sleep!) book we read during our first pregnancy. Some of the jokes you see circulating around co-sleeping are jokes we can easily relate to.

Baby Sleeping Positions (Credit: How To Be A Dad)

Perception vs. Reality (Credit: ??????)

Also, I must have missed the section in Good Nights where they talked about how when your child has a stomach flu, the upheaval that accompanies changing the linens in the middle of the night applies to the *entire* family.

Stomach flu aside, we have had many, many positive moments. I think this one is my favorite:

Little Dyson is only 4.5 months old at the moment. Some nights, he starts to squirm and stir. I awake to him grunting, his eyes still closed, but clearly aggitated. Usually he is hungry, but sometimes… sometimes I just press my nose against his cheek or rest my forehead against his… and just instantly his limbs relax, his breath steadies, and he falls right back into a peaceful sleep.

I love that. He just wanted to know I was there, that he wasn’t alone.

And moments like that make even the stomach flu worth it. 🙂

0-3 Month Sleepers and Living in the Moment

My youngest son is right on schedule with his growth. Just a couple of days after he turned three months old, I noticed he was a little too snug in his 0-3 month sleepers. I decided daycare would probably prefer him to be able to stretch out his legs, so I went and got him a more appropriately sized outfit. As I zipped up those new pajamas, it suddenly dawned on me– I am likely never going to have a child wear 0-3 month sleepers again. My brain dwelled on that somber fact, perhaps a little too long. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by input by my eyeballs.

Earth to Vicky. Earth to Vicky. Hellloooo! There is an infant smiling at you RIGHT NOW.

I focused on the baby below me and there he was, happily wiggling and cooing, his eyes crunched up into tiny little crescents.

Smile back, you jackass!

So I did and just like that, the moment of melancholy passed.